N LAKSHMANAN VAIDYAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two writ petitions were heard together and are being disposed of by this common judgment inasmuch as the reliefs sought, the issues involved and the questions of law raised are practically identical. In the course of the judgment, wherever each of the petitioners has to be referred to separately, the petitioner in O.P.No. 326 of 1980-E would be referred to as Sri Lakshmanan Vaidyan, and the petitioner in O.P. No. 422 of 1980-A as Sri Ramakrishnan for the sake of convenience.

(2.) It is averred in the writ petition by Sri Lakshmanan Vaidyan that by virtue of the power conferred under S.4 of the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act, 1950, (Act 15 of 1950) (the Act) as amended by Act 20 of 1974, three Hindu Ministers out of six Ministers who constituted the Council of Ministers of the State of Kerala had nominated him to be one of the members of the Travancore Devaswom Board on 27th November 1979. It is also averred therein that one Smt. Saraswathi Kunjukrishnan, the elected member whose term was still current, was continuing in office; and that on 27th November 1979 itself one Sri T. N. Upendranatha Kurup was also nominated by the Hindus among the Council of Ministers to be a member of the Travancore Devaswom Board. His grievance is that while the said Sri Upendranatha Kurup's nomination was published in the Kerala Gazette, Extraordinary, on 1st December 1979 under G.O. Rt. No. 1814/79/RD-I, no such notification relating to his (Sri Lakshmanan Vaidyan's) nomination was published. Ext. P1 is the copy of the notification relating to the nomination of Sri Upendranatha Kurup. On enquiry being made the petitioner came to know that the papers relating to the nomination of Sri Upendranatha Kurup were sent to the Special Secretary (Revenue) on 28th November 1979, whereas those relating to the nomination of the petitioner were sent to the Chief Secretary so as to be received only on 6th December 1979. According to Sri Lakshmanan Vaidyan the fact that he was nominated to be a member of the Board was made known to him on 27th November 1979 itself by the three Hindu Ministers among the Council of Ministers. He suspected that the delay in the transmission of the file relating to his nomination was as a result of some manipulation with a view to cause prejudice to him.

(3.) The averment of Sri Ramakrishnan (in O. P. No. 422 of 1980-A) is that by virtue of the power conferred under S.63 of the Act, the Hindus among the Council of Ministers of the State of Kerala had nominated him on 27th November 1979 to be the member and President of the Cochin Devaswom Board in the vacancy of one Sri Ramankutty Achan who had been the President of the Board and who continued to be as such in accordance with the provisions contained in S.70(3) of the Act. He also feels aggrieved that his nomination had not been published in the Gazette, while that of Sri Upendranatha Kurup who also was nominated on the very same day, namely, 27th November 1979, was published in the Kerala Gazette, dated 1st December 1979. The prayer in both the writ petitions is couched almost in the same words. Reliefs (a) and (b) read as follows: